Thursday, June 7 This weekend is the climax of Capital Pride , the annual festival for Washington's gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered community. The highlight is Saturday's parade through Dupont Circle, but there are plenty of parties (official and unofficial) that take place around the main events. Tonight, for example, there are bachelor and bachelorette date auctions (at Remington's and RNR Bar & Lounge , respectively), but the highlight has to be a concert by Ari Gold at Cobalt . Not to be confused with the "Entourage" character, this Ari Gold is a Bronx-born R&B singer whose singles have hit the top 20 in the U.K. and received great reviews in both the Advocate and Billboard. Gold's albums contain a chart-friendly mix of R&B rhythms and pop melodies, but harder remixes of his tracks have also become staples at gay clubs in New York and Miami, so it'll be interesting to see which way his live performance will lean. Get there early, because Cobalt will fill up fast.

The Long Blondes hail from Sheffield, the same part of the U.K. as the Arctic Monkeys, and in some ways the band can be described as a female-fronted version of their massively hyped neighbors. Like the Monkeys, the Blondes play a distinctly British brand of snappy post-punk that details what it's like to be young and hip and British. Like all British bands, a barrage of singles preceded the group's debut, and while the irresistible "Lust in the Movies" and "Giddy Stratospheres" are indeed the standout tracks on full-length debut "Someone to Drive You Home," the Long Blondes prove they are more than a mere singles band. Nicole Atkins and the Sea and Five Four open tonight at the Rock and Roll Hotel , with DJs Trickster and Five-Year-Plan from post-punk DJ night We Fought the Big One playing tunes whenever there's not a band on stage.

Friday, June 8 Leo G. has been holding down the fort on XM Radio since the company began broadcasting in 2001. Although the channels have gone through various shakeups as XM has adapted to a shifting marketplace, Leo G.'s formula remains a winner: play mainstream hip-hop, but don't limit it to the narrow playlists found on urban terrestrial radio. Leo G.'s spot on channel Raw 66 is where you'll get that new Shop Boyz or whatever is currently capturing the bling zeitgeist, along with exclusive cuts from a Lupe Fiasco mixtape. Leo's throwing a birthday bash at Love tonight that aims to reach Hot 97 Summerjam heights. Papoose , Fat Joe and Dipset bring the New York street heat, the south will be well represented by Rick Ross , Lil Flip and David Banner , and Talib Kweli and Skillz provide the pure lyricist appeal. With a lineup that robust, hopefully the train of rappers pulls out of the station at least before 11 p.m.

Although RPM has successfully crossed their hip-hop over to the rock band circuit, this is much more than a jam band fronted by a rapper. The band sometimes approximates breakbeats live or segues into grooves not unlike Madeski, Martin & Wood while Raw Poetic's steady flow provides the rhythmic center. Heavy touring and Raw Poetic 's succesful stint on Rawkus Records as part of the group Panacea ensure a tight dynamic on Iota 's stage tonight.

It's been more than a decade since El-P stripped hip-hop down to an industrial, almost punk chassis with Company Flow and then built his Def Jux dynasty on a stable of abrasive, angsty and sometimes oddball rap groups. It's been a very successful ride but the Trent Reznor of hip-hop is still tortured. Fortunately that psychological state makes for some of the best menacing and dissonant material he's ever recorded on his most recent long player, "I'll Sleep When I'm Dead." Even though the backpack army has shrunk and materialist nihilism still reigns in the glam-hop world, El-P proves why the underground is still relevent at the 9:30 club tonight.

Capital Pride events continue tonight, and we're betting that there will be plenty of packed houses from Shaw to Crystal City. BeBar is hosting one of its regular Madonna-themed parties with DJ Wes , a staple of Velvet Nation, spinning the Material Girl all night long. The Arlington Gay and Lesbian Alliance sponsors a meet-and-greet happy hour from 6 to 9 at Freddie's Beach Bar , proving that not all the worthwhile Pride events are close to Dupont Circle. Men and women can find parties tailored just to them: The boys can dance to DJ Alex Lauterstein at Apex , while the girls head for a dance party at Tom Tom .

A few years ago, Friday nights at Aroma were the best-kept open secret in town. DJ Dredd rocked a steady stream of Prince, Michael Jackson and Kurtis Blow to get people grooving, even if the "dance floor" held no more than 10 people. Bartenders Krishna and Lily formed one of the best cocktail-mixing tandems we've ever encountered, and the lounge attracted a great mix of Cleveland Park regulars and out-of-the-neighborhood regulars who came for martinis and great music. Then it all started to steadily fall off. Dredd departed to spin at other clubs and open his own restaurant, Vegetate, amid complaints about his paycheck, while Lily moved on to a full-time position at the Black Cat. DJ Madness stepped in to fill Dredd's spot, but he, too, left Aroma. As much as we love Krishna -- Fritz still swears he's one of the best mixologists in the city -- he can't hold down the night on his own. We're full of hope, though, because DJ Deep Sang has a new monthly at Aroma, and we really dig the mix of hip-hop and dancehall we've heard him spin during residences at Wonderland (Dirty Bombs, with DJ Meistro) and Selam (Solid Gold). Is he bringing Aroma back? Find out for yourself tonight. Deep Sang hits the decks at 10, but you'll want to get there early for a cocktail. Just ask your bartender what they recommend and take it from there.